Album page

ABSTRACT

An album page for the display of materials in a landscape or portrait orientation, having a rectangular paper insert sheet inserted in a folded sheet of transparent plastic. One short side of the folded sheet has an opening for insertion of photographs and negatives. One long side remains unsealed for insertion of photographs and negatives. The paper insert sheet has two rows of holes, and is larger in width than the folded cover sheet, to leave a portion of the paper insert sheet exposed for use as a memo area. The plastic folded cover sheet is folded, attached to itself along the two short edges to form an envelope, the paper insert sheet is inserted in the envelope, and the folded cover sheet is attached to itself through holes in the paper insert sheet to attach the folded cover sheet to itself, and create horizontal supports to hold the display material in the desired position. The attachments through the holes do not touch the edges of the folded cover sheet to prevent the display area from being cluttered with unsightly attachment points. This method also allows for alignment of a printed memo area with a display pocket.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The technical field of this invention concerns album pages, such as those used to display photographs and negatives.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Albums to display photographs, negatives and memorabilia are well known. Early versions included bound books in which photographs were glued to the pages. Later albums included mounting tabs, which could be affixed by the user at the desired location to hold the photograph or negative in the album.

[0003] Further developments to albums included albums with an adhesive surface covered by a transparent plastic sheet, as well as hole-punched album pages for insertion in loose-leaf binders. Some pages include memo areas for notes and other indicia concerning the display material.

[0004] More recent developments in the field of album pages have included ways to permit the user additional flexibility in displaying photographs, negatives and similar material. Improvements also have been directed towards permitting the display of photographs and negatives in multiple orientations or, as more commonly known, in either the landscape or the portrait orientation. Some album pages have attempted to incorporate recent advances in manufacturing technology, including welding of plastic sheets to create pockets or envelopes to hold display materials such as photographs.

[0005] Current albums print an insert sheet to provide lines on a memo area, but the combining in one high speed operation of printing and assembling of current album pages frequently results is poor alignment of the memo area lines with the individual display pockets. The high speed printing techniques currently used permit variation, or drift, in the location of printed lines on the insert sheet relative to the top and bottom of the album page. What is needed is a manufacturing process that allows the printing of memo areas that can be easily aligned with individual display pockets during assembly of the album page.

[0006] Also needed are further improvements in album pages to permit display material to be displayed in a landscape or portrait orientation, without having to re-orient the album pages in their notebook or binder, and to use modem and efficient manufacturing techniques in making the improved album pages to create a display area less cluttered with the means for attachment of the component sheets of the album page.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention concerns a new album page, and method of making the page, for the display of materials in a landscape or portrait orientation, which page is manufactured with low cost efficient techniques, with a display area less cluttered with the means for attachment of the album page components, and with a memo area that is easily printed to align the memo area with the display pockets. The album page is substantially rectangular, with one long edge hole-punched for inserting in a loose-leaf binder. The album page consists of a heat, sonically or hot melt glue sealed outer envelope made from a single sheet of transparent plastic cover sheet folded in half enclosing a paper insert sheet, the folded cover sheet being sealed on both of its short edges to create an envelope. The sealed short edges serve as the top and bottom of the album page, as oriented in the album or binder. One short edge, serving as the top, is partially sealed to create an insertion opening for insertion of display materials, such as photographs and negatives.

[0008] A paper insert sheet between the folded cover sheet creates pockets on the front and back of the album page. The insert sheet has two rows of holes spaced away from the edges of the album page. The insert sheet is larger than the folded cover sheet after folding, to leave a portion of the paper insert sheet exposed for use as a memo area.

[0009] Using modern manufacturing techniques, the plastic folded cover sheet is folded in half into a rectangle, and heat or sonically welded, or glued, along the short edges to form an envelope. The pre-cut paper insert sheet is inserted in the pocket, and the folded cover sheet is attached to itself through the holes in the paper insert sheet The album page also may include a memo area on the insert sheet for inserting notes, indicia, and descriptions of the photographs or other display material, and may include perforations in the insert sheet for supporting display material in the portrait orientation. The method of manufacturing permits printing a memo area that consistently aligns with the display pockets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where

[0011]FIG. 1 is a plan view of the assembled out album page;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a scaled folded cover sheet after folding; and

[0013]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the unassembled album page, with an unsealed folded cover sheet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0014] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the album page 10 is comprised of a paper insert sheet 11, and a folded cover sheet 12, and is substantially rectangular, having two substantially parallel long edges 14, 15 and two substantially parallel short edges 16 and 17. The folded cover sheet is a sheet of plastic, preferably polypropylene or polyester, folded in a substantially rectangular shape, creating a fold 18. As shown in FIGS. 1 & 2, after folding and sealing, the folded cover sheet has two long edges 18, 19, one of which is formed at the fold 18, and becomes one long edge 15 of the album page.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 3, the paper insert sheet 11 is substantially rectangular, and one of its substantially parallel long edges 14 becomes the long edge 14 of the album page. The other insert sheet long edge 21, when covered by the cover sheet fold 18 is near one album page long edge 15. The insert sheet also has binding holes 23 near one album page long edge 14 for mounting the album page in a loose-leaf binder, and the paper insert sheet includes two rows of holes 22 that do not touch any of the edges of the insert sheet, or the folded cover sheet after assembly.

[0016] The paper insert sheet is made of paper which preferably is 7 point or thicker, is substantially rectangular, and has a greater dimension between its long edges 14, 21 than that between the fold 18 and the cover sheet long edge 19, to leave a portion of the paper insert sheet exposed to form a memo area 24.

[0017] Both folded cover sheet short edges 34, 35 are sealed by attaching the folded cover sheet to itself by attachment means to create an envelope 41. As shown in FIG. 2, the envelope 41 has an interior 31 between the front 32 and back 33 of the folded cover sheet, the folded cover sheet short edges 34 & 35, fold 18 and the folded cover sheet long edge 19. One folded cover sheet long edge 19 remains unsealed for insertion of the insert sheet during assembly, and for insertion of display material during use. After the folded cover sheet is sealed, the paper insert sheet is placed in the envelope 41 formed from the sealed folded cover sheet. The folded cover sheet is then attached to itself by attachment means, such as heat or sonic welding, or hot melt glue, through each hole 28 in the row of holes 22 in the paper insert sheet to create attachment points 42. Holes are located away from the edges 14, 15, 16 and 17 to increase the viewing area for display materials, and eliminate unsightly welds found in some earlier album pages. The insert sheet divides the envelope 41, and, together with the attachment of the folded cover sheet through the holes, creates six pockets 36 as follows: the two rows divide the album page into three substantially equal pockets measured from the album page short edges 16, 17, and the insert sheet divides the envelope 41 into two sides corresponding to the front 32 and back 33 of the folded cover sheet, one of the two sides being between the folded cover sheet front 32 and the insert sheet, and the other of the two sides being between the folded cover sheet back 33 and the insert sheet. A pocket ordinarily is sized to fit standard display material, such as photographs.

[0018] The attachment through the holes further strengthens the album page, creates multiple display pockets for display material, and creates horizontal supports for maintaining photographs and other display material in the desired position. The holes and attachment points 42 provide for efficient and inexpensive manufacturing, while adequately supporting the photographs or other display material.

[0019] The holes 28 in the paper insert sheet 11 are spaced to permit display of standard photograph prints, and there are two rows of holes, a row placed approximately 4.25 inches from each of the album page short edges 16, 17. There are 4 holes 28 and attachment points in each row. As shown in FIG. 1, there is an unattached area 27 bounded on one side by an imaginary first line 29 approximately 1.5 inches from and parallel to the fold 18, and on the other side by an imaginary second line 30 approximately 5.625 inches from and parallel to the fold 18, in which there are no holes 28. The first line 29 and second line 30 are depicted in FIG. 1 by the imaginary lines drawn between the two arrows labeled 29 and 30 respectively near the album page short edges 16, 17. The unattached area, in which the insert sheet has no attachment points passing through it, permits display in a portrait orientation of photographs as wide as the unattached area, and nearly as long as the photo album long edge.

[0020] One folded cover sheet short edge 34 serves as the top and has an insertion opening 25 between the lines defining the unattached area 29, 30, to create an insertion opening, which permits insertion of the display material in a portrait orientation. The insertion opening in this embodiment is created by sealing the top folded cover sheet short edge 34 near but not touching each edge 15, 19 of the folded cover sheet. In this embodiment, the top cover sheet short edge 34 is sealed along two top seal strips of approximately 1.25 inches each, one top seal strip 39 beginning approximately three-sixteenths of an inch from the fold 18 and ending at the unattached area 27, and one top seal strip 40 beginning approximately three-sixteenths of an inch from the edge 19 and ending at the unattached area 27.

[0021] The insert sheet may include one or more perforations 26 in the unattached area through which the folded cover sheet is not attached to itself, which perforations can support display material in the portrait mode. A perforation is pushed away from the insert sheet towards the portion of the folded cover sheet through which the display material will be viewed, creating a hook or ledge in which gravity holds the display material in a portrait orientation. Attachment points through the insert sheet resist lateral movement of display material in a portrait orientation, thereby maintaining the preferred orientation.

[0022] The memo area 24 can be printed with words 37 and lines 38 to line up with each of the pockets 36. Since the insert sheets are printed separately from the assembly process, the words and lines can be accurately and consistently spaced so that they are aligned with each pocket 36. A word or words, such as “memo”, “photo”, “date” or similar message can be assigned to and identify each pocket, to identify a caption or title for the display material in that pocket, in contrast to the varying spacing of indicia produced in current album pages. The more precise printing permits the user to clearly designate which user created entries are associated with which display materials. Blank lines 38 are provided to permit the user to add further notes, memoranda or comments. 

I claim:
 1. An album page for displaying material in either a portrait or landscape orientation comprising a folded cover sheet formed by folding a transparent plastic sheet substantially in half, to create a fold, and a paper insert sheet, in which both the folded cover sheet after folding and the paper insert sheet each are substantially rectangular and have substantially parallel long edges, parallel short edges, and a width and a height, the folded cover sheet after folding having a width less than the width of the paper insert sheet, the paper insert sheet having two parallel rows of holes, each row of holes being substantially equidistant from one of the short edges of the folded cover sheet and from the other row of holes, the folded cover sheet being permanently attached to itself along one of its short edges, and partially attached along the other of its short edges, and at each of the holes to form six pockets, one short edge of the folded cover sheet having an insertion opening, and the album page also having an unattached area in which the folded cover sheet is not attached to itself through the paper insert.
 2. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is sonic welding.
 3. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is heat welding.
 4. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is hot melt glue.
 5. The album page of claim 1 having a memo area.
 6. The album page of claim 6 in which the memo area has printing aligned with the pockets without substantial variation of the location of the printing during manufacture of numerous examples of album pages.
 7. The album page of claim 1 in which the unattached area is defined as the area of the album page between a first line parallel to and approximately 1.5 inches from the fold and a second line parallel to and approximately 5.625 inches from the fold.
 8. The album page of claim 1 having a plurality of perforations in the unattached area to support the display material displayed in the portrait orientation.
 9. A method for making an album page for displaying material in either a portrait or landscape orientation, comprising folding a transparent plastic sheet into a rectangle having two long edges and two short edges, attaching the plastic sheet to itself along both short edges to create an envelope, making rows of holes having holes in an insert sheet, the rows of holes being spaced to define a plurality of areas slightly larger than the display material to be displayed, inserting the insert sheet in the envelope, attaching the folded cover sheet to itself through each of the holes to create attachment points, the holes also being spaced so that when the folded plastic sheet is attached through the holes to create attachment points, the attachment points do not touch any edge of the folded cover sheet.
 10. The method of claim 9, in which a memo area on the insert sheet is created by making the insert sheet larger than the folded cover sheet when folded, and the memo area is printed so that the printing is aligned substantially at the same distance from one of the parallel short edges of the transparent plastic sheet after assembly of the album page. 